Radioactive
by freudianprincess
Summary: "Finally, Blayke, there is the fire I wanted to see." he began with some sort of glint in his eyes. "However, you forgot the number one rule..." he continued and then with a swift motion, he had me pinned to the wall, both of my wrists held securely by only one of his hands, his face mere inches from my own. "Don't hesitate." he finished and then he crushed his lips to mine. LEMONY
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So I am starting this off as a one-shot, and depending on what kind of feedback I get from it, I can easily turn it into a full story. PLEASE let me know what you think and whether I should continue it (this could easily become the prologue to the story). As with all of the other stories I write, my pocket book is devoid of any type of money. This means that anything you recognize is not mine, and I am not JK Rowling. ENJOY!**

**-FP**

**P.S. Shout out to the lovely ****IlysraChance 3**

"Come on, Blayke, You're not trying hard enough!" I heard his annoying voice cut through the training room as, once again, I was thrown to the ground by my opponent. It was on days like today, the ones where we had hand-to-hand combat training, that made me wish I was not the only female in the Auror Training Program.

"You alright, Anna?" my opponent asked as he offered a hand to pull me up.

I smacked his hand away and stood up with a huff, "I'm fine, Blaise."

Blaise shrugged as he went and got a drink of water from the lone fountain on the other side of the room. I don't know who's great idea it was to pair us trainees up with seasoned aurors, but I was getting sick and tired of being thrown to the ground by grown men who were twice my size. Sighing, I rolled my shoulders and stretched out my hamstrings as I readied myself for the next fight with Blaise.

"Ready?" he asked as we got back into our fighting stances.

I nodded and once again we were fighting. Blaise struck first but I easily dodged it and ducked to the ground, kicking his feet out from under him. Before I could pin him however, he kicked himself back up and made to punch at me again. I caught his wrist in one hand but he was too strong and the next thing I knew I was flying through the air as Blaise flipped me over his shoulder; the training floor and I were best friends by now. Groaning, I lay on the mat as I tried to catch my breath after having the air knocked out of my.

"Get up, Blake, this isn't a tea party!" came the firm voice again.

"Oi, Potter, give the girl a break! She's been putting up a decent fight!" Blaise shouted back.

"What was that Zabini?" Harry stepped up to my partner, narrowing his eyes at the man.

"I was saying not to be so hard on her. She is half my size and still putting up a decent fight." he responded gesturing at me as he defended me.

"Decent does not save lives, Zabini, and you would do well to know your place or else I will remove you from it." Harry said venomously as he stood mere inches from Blaise trying to intimidate him.

"Blaise, it's fine. Let's just go again." I said as I pulled on his arm to drag him away from Harry.

"Yes, _Blaise_, get back to work." Harry commanded as he walked off to criticize one of my fellow students.

I did a side kick, aiming at Blaise's chest but he was quicker and grabbed my ankle causing me to lose my balance and fall to the ground, again. Blaise was straddling me in an instant, ready to pin me to the ground but I was able to flip us so I was the one pinning him to the ground.

"I never took you for a girl who liked it on top." Blaise said with a smirk as he hooked his arm beneath my left knee and flipped us so he was once again on top, pinning my knee into my chest with his shoulder. "I prefer it this way much better." he added with a wink. I rolled my eyes and tried to move out of his pin but I only managed to get myself pinned even more.

"That's it, Blayke, run laps. Zabini, you're fighting me." Harry commanded as he took off his pants, leaving him in black athletic pants and a tight white t-shirt that exposed all of his well defined muscles. I couldn't help but admire what being an Auror had done to his body.

I heard Blaise chuckle, obviously noticing my distraction as he released me from the pin and stood up. This time I accepted his extended hand to help me stand up and brushed off my black pants and shirt. Blaise strode over to Harry and instantly they began their fighting. I was transfixed by the way the two men moved as if it were some sort of dance; the way Harry moved was captivating and I just stood there and stared.

"Why aren't you running, Blayke?" he called without breaking his concentration away from the fight.

I snapped out of my daze and began making laps around the training room; not daring to ask for a water break. Round and round I ran, I stopped counting my laps after the twentieth one and just focused on keeping my legs moving. My breath began catching in my chest and I began hoping that Harry would end today's training before I collapsed.

"That's enough for today! Everyone get a drink and line up!" Harry announced after he had pinned Blaise for the fifth time; my wish was answered.

I brought my hands above my head trying to catch my breath. It felt as if a large freight train had collided into my chest and I just wished for it to go away. Once my breathing was under control I walked over to the fountain and took a long drink, savoring the coolness of the water as it ran into my mouth. After I was finished, I lined up with the rest of the group, awaiting further instruction. The Aurors that had been there to help us train were released, leaving us trainees alone with Harry.

"Most of you did well today," Harry began as he walked up the line, "but others" he continued, his eyes connecting with mine, "have a lot of work ahead of you if you plan on becoming an Auror. Tomorrow, we will be doing physical training, so everyone be here tomorrow at 5am ready to work."

A chorus of "Yes, sir" echoed off the walls.

"You are dismissed; that is, everyone except Miss Blayke." he announced and everyone but myself broke from the line and left the room as quickly as possible.

I stood there awaiting my fate, hoping this was not where I got kicked out of the camp.

"Miss Blayke, you will be doing some more training this evening with me; you have much to learn." he said as he circled around me like a vulture. "Convince me that you are worth keeping in this program... little girl." he whispered in my ear, causing me to shudder, before wrapping an arm around the front of my shoulders, pinning my back to his chiseled chest.

I was tired of him treating me like he was and I became angry. In my anger I stepped on one of his feet and then elbowed him in his stomach, which caused him to released me from his hold. I turned to face him and threw a right hook which he caught easily and chuckled.

"Seems I have struck a nerve." he said with a smirk releasing my wrist with force, causing me to stumble back a few steps. "Come on Blayke, hit me, I know you want to." he taunted.

I flew at him with a mixture of hits and kicks, all of which he blocked easily.

"You're going to have to try harder than that, you're fighting like such a girl." he said as he blocked yet another one of my blows.

That was the last straw. I threw myself at him with all the force I could muster and pinned him against the wall, one hand at his throat and the other poised to land a blow right at his windpipe. Panting heavily, I glared at him, holding back my final punch.

"Finally, Blayke, there is the fire I wanted to see." he began with some sort of glint in his eyes. "However, you forgot the number one rule..." he continued and then with a swift motion, he had me pinned to the wall, both of my wrists held securely by only one of his hands, his face mere inches from my own. "Don't hesitate." he finished and then he crushed his lips to mine.

Harry broke away from me, stepping back while releasing my wrists; for a moment we just stood there staring at each other, breathing hard. In an instant, I pulled him back to me, our lips crashing together once more. He pushed his body against mine, pinning me to the wall again as I wrapped my arms around his neck. I opened my mouth a little bit more and allowed his tongue to explore; our kiss was feverish and full of desire.

I felt his muscles ripple beneath me as he ran his hands down my thighs and lifted me up so that my legs were wrapped around his waist. Still supporting me with the wall, he brought one of his hands up to my chest, grabbing one of my breasts through my shirt; I moaned into his mouth, encouraging to go on. He pulled away from the kiss long enough to pull my t-shirt over my head, leaving me in my sports bra, before he brought his lips back to mine. He tasted divine; a mixture of peppermint toothpaste and power.

His hands were once again on my chest, massaging my breasts through the thin fabric of my sports bra, causing my nipples to harden. Harry began kissing down my neck and along my collar bone before kissing along the top of my breasts. I let out another moan to which he answered by pulling my bra up and off, leaving me completely exposed to him. He immediately began attacked my breasts with his mouth, licking around a nipple before drawing it into his mouth and between his teeth, while the other hand worked on my other breast. I let out a gasp at the feeling and leaned my head back against the wall. After awhile he switched breasts and continued his ministrations.

Harry brought his lips back to mine as he lowered my legs from around his waist. Breaking our kiss, he pulled off his shirt and I stared in awe at the man before me; he was sculpted like a god. I pulled him to my body again and began kissing his neck before making my way along his collarbone and back up the other side of his neck before reconnecting our lips. Pulling his lips away from mine again he began kissing down my chest, past my breasts and sunk to his knees as he made it to the waste band of my pants.

He kissed along the band and dipped his tongue in my navel before pulling both my pants and underwear down as I stepped out of them. With a tug behind my left knee, he pulled it up and draped it over his shoulder as he began kissing along my inner thighs. I encouraged him further with my tiny gasps of pleasure and he inserted two fingers inside of me; this time I couldn't hold back the moan as it escaped my lips. Taking this as a good sign, he brought his mouth to my heated center as he pumped his fingers into me.

I felt like I was about to explode so I grabbed his hair and pushed his mouth further into my center. Moaning, I let the waves of my orgasm wash over me, Harry never once ceasing in his motions. When I came down from my ecstasy, he removed his fingers from me and kissed his way back up my body. Our lips reconnected in a feverish kiss and I could feel his erection pressing against my thighs.

This time, it was my turn to kiss my way down his bare chest marveling at every ridge his muscles created. When I got to his pants line, I swiftly pulled them down along with his undershorts and released his rock hard member. I gasped at his size as I took it in my hand; bringing it to my mouth, I took the tip between my lips and he let out a groan of pleasure. With his encouragement I began moving my mouth up and down his length, his fingers weaving into my long auburn hair after he released it from the bun I had it in.

I continued like this for awhile and I could tell he was getting near his climax but, before I could finish him off, he pulled away from my and made me stand up. He pulled my right leg up to his hip, holding it cradled in his arm just above my knee. His tip was teasing at my entrance and I moved my hip forward, trying to make the connection.

In one swift movement, he slid his entire length inside of me and let out a groaned as I moaned in pleasure. He stood still for a moment trying to control his breathing and I ran my hands through his hair. Slowly he began pumping into me, accompanied by our shared moans. The way he felt inside of me was too amazing to describe; it was as if he fit perfectly.

Our moans became stronger, as he began to pump faster and harder. My hands took hold of his hair and pulled as he moved, his pace becoming erratic. He bit into my shoulder and I shuddered as I felt my release wash over me.

"Oh, Harry." I groaned, looking into his emerald eyes as my center clenched around his member. This sent him over the edge and with one final thrust, he emptied his seed into me, letting out an animal-like groan into my hair.

"Annalisse..." he groaned.

We stayed there in our final position for a long time. Harry brought his forehead to mine again as our heart rates slowed down. When we had finally gotten ourselves under control, Harry placed a quick kiss on my lips again before he passed me my clothes and we began to dress.

I pulled my hair back up into its bun after I had redressed and Harry had pulled his cloak back on. Harry led me over to the door and before opening it, he gave me another kiss and I sighed in contentment. When we pulled apart he opened the door and was once again back to his old self.

"I expect you to be here at 5am with everyone else." he instructed and swiftly left the room with me standing in shock.

I brought my finger tips to my lips and let a small smile grace my face. What had I just gotten myself into?


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Alright, so here is another chapter. I hope everyone enjoys! Also, please review because I want to know if I should continue on with this story.**

**-FP**

-6 Months Earlier-

The tires of the Ministry vehicle created a cloud of dust behind it as it sped down the dirt road toward my home for the next six months. I sat in the back of the car, staring out the window, as I thought about what I had gotten myself into. Throughout my entire schooling back in America, I had dreamed of becoming an Auror and now here I was, closely approaching my future with each passing minute. I saw a giant mansion out in the distance, the Auror Training Camp, and my palms began to clam up with nerves.

As we pulled up in front of the mansion, I could see a head of jet black hair pacing back and forth. He looked angry and I was hoping that he would not be the one the letter said I was supposed to be meeting. Once the car stopped in front of him, I knew that luck was not on my side as he stopped pacing and looked at the car with a stern look on his face. I opened the door and climbed out of the car stretching as I stood up.

The man stepped up to me and I could feel his emerald eyes critiquing me as the ran up and down my form. "You're late." he spoke finally.

"I..." I began but was cut off by him raising a single hand.

"I don't care about excuses. From now on you will be on time for everything." he stated simply.

I wasn't sure how to respond so I just nodded.

"I believe you mean to say, 'yes, sir'?" he said, criticizing my nod.

"Yes, sir." I stated.

He gave one last judging glace at me and then turned away from me, "Follow me, Miss Blayke."

I grabbed my bags that the driver had placed next to me and then followed him up the path to the mansion. Once inside, we stopped in front of a grand staircase and the man turned back to face me.

"On your right is the dining hall in which meals are served at 6am, 1pm, and 7pm sharp everyday, you would be wise not to be late as you only have half an hour to eat. On your left is the training room where you will be spending most of your time." he explained before he made his way up to the top of the staircase.

When we reached the top, he made a sharp left and led me down a bright hallway.

"We are currently walking through Auror quarters. This is where the Aurors that will assist in your training live; this hallway is to remain quiet at all times so you do not disturb them.: he explained as we walked along.

At the end of the hallway there was another set of stairs and we made our way up those as well. When we reached the top, we were in another hallway; this one was less grand and looked as if it held more rooms.

"This is the trainee floor where you will be living." he started as he walked down the hallway until he stopped abruptly, outside of a door. "This is your room" he said as he twisted the knob and pushed the door open.

I stepped inside and took in my surroundings. There was a single bed in the far corner with a night table next to it, upon which sat a single reading light and an alarm clock, while a wardrobe sat against the wall next to the door. The room was simple; but I guess that I wasn't going to be spending much time in here with all of the training.

A heard the man clear his throat at the door, "Sundays are the day on which you may leave the camp and go into town; leave on any other day and you will be kicked out of camp. The only exception in which you will be allowed to go off campus any other day is if you are to accompany one of the Auror's on a field training exercise. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then I will leave you to unpack your things. Dinner will be served in an hour, do not be late. One last thing, your uniform is to be worn at all times." he ran his eyes over me again before he turned on his heel and left my room, pulling the door shut behind him.

I let out a big sigh as I dropped my bags and flopped onto my bed; '_this ought to be interesting_,' I thought. Standing back up, I grabbed one of my bags and placed it on my bed before opening it up and beginning to unpack. Once everything was where it should be, I went to my wardrobe and pulled out the uniform they had provided me.

Kicking of my shoes and pulling down my jeans, I replaced them with the black compression pants and combat boots. I was a bit uncomfortable with how form fitting the compression pants were, especially since I was to be the only woman, but I knew there was nothing I could do about it. After fastening the weapons and wand holster onto my thigh, I undid the buttons on my blouse and tossed it in the corner before pulling on a sports bra. I took a moment to look at my training camp t-shirt; it was royal blue with the words 'Auror Training Camp' arched over two crossed swords on the front while 'BLAYKE' was written out across my back. I tugged the shirt on and looked at the clock on my bedside table; I had twenty minutes to get down to the dining hall.

Grabbing my wand and placing it in the appropriate place, I walked out of my room weaving my auburn hair into a tight plait. I reached the bottom of the first set of stairs and then walked down the Auror living quarters hallway; when I reached the end of it I stopped and looked at the other hallway that was across from me. '_Where does it lead to?'_ I wondered.

I didn't hear someone walk up behind me until they spoke. "I wouldn't go down that hallway, if that is what you are contemplating." the deep voice said.

I turned around to meet a tanned and muscular man who also had black hair, but his eyes were the color of coal unlike the first man I met.

"I...wasn't..." I stumbled out but the man just chuckled.

"Welcome to the camp, Miss Blayke. I must admit that when we were told that there would be a lady joining our camp, I didn't expect you to be so... attractive." he said as his eyes ran over my body before meeting mine again.

"Er... thanks..." I replied awkwardly.

"My name is Blaise. I am one of the Aurors on staff here." he introduced as he stuck his hand out.

"Annalisse, but you can call me Anna." I took his hand.

"Pleased to meet you... _Anna._" he said with a seductive tone and kissed the back of my hand.

"I should... er... get to dinner." I said as he released my hand.

"Please, do me the honor and join me at my table." he insisted as he led me down to the dining hall and through the doors.

As we walked into the dining hall I noticed that there were two tables set up, each holding around eight people; the room was alive with chatter and I sighed with relief that meals would not be a quiet affair. The man who had showed me to my room was seated at the head of one table while Blaise led me to the other table. Blaise pulled out my chair as I approached the table and I saw the man narrow his eyes. I took my seat with my back the the man and I could feel his gaze burning into the back of my head.

"Who is the stern man with black hair and emerald eyes?" I asked a little ways into the meal, leaning over the table toward Blaise who had taken his seat across from me.

"You don't know who he is?" he asked with a look that said he didn't believe me.

"Am I supposed to?" I asked in confusion.

"You're telling me you don't know who Harry Potter is?" he asked again, this time with an eyebrow quirked.

"He's THE Harry Potter!?" I feigned recognition.

"So you do know who he is..." Blaise responded almost with... relief?

"No."

"Shit, how'd you manage that?" the person seated next to me asked and I responded with a confused shrug.

"Harry is a hero over here in Europe. Did you ever hear of Voldemort over in America?" Blaise began.

"We never really payed much attention to politics here." I answered truthfully.

"Er... well... Harry defeated him when he was only seventeen. It was a nasty war; and I regret to say that I had chosen the losing side but, thanks to Harry, I was given a pardon by the Ministry since I was never truly involved. I owe the man my life."

"Why is he so... cold" I asked, trying to fin the right word for his attitude.

"Ah, you see, he has been through a lot these past ten years after the war. He married his school sweetheart but, he was more involved in his work than with her so, she left him. He was also offered the Head of the Auror Department but he turned it down and took the job here as Head Trainer. Quite honestly, I am glad he did; there really is no one out there better than him for training." Blaise answered and I spent the rest of the meal listening to some of the Aurors talk about missions they had been on.

I heard the heavy scrape of a chair and turned in my seat to look for the source of the noise. Harry had stood up and the room had fallen silent.

"Weapons training with start in fifteen minutes. I suggest you begin making your way there now so you can begin warming up." with that he made his way through and out the dining hall my eyes following his the entire way.

"Shall we?" Blaise asked as he stood up from the table.

"You're going too?" I asked, confused as to why the Aurors had to go to.

"Everyone goes; us Aurors serve as a sort of 'team leader' to help guide you." he responded simply as I stood up with him and we followed the crowd across to the training room.

When we walked in, Blaise left me with the group of my peers and made his way over to the grouping of Aurors. I noticed everyone stretching their shoulders and cracking their knuckles so I too began to stretch my muscles. Exactly fifteen minute from when he announced it, the door to the training room flew open and Harry strode in.

"Line up!" he commanded and all of us trainees did as he instructed. He walked up and down our line sizing up each and every one of us. I couldn't help but notice his eyes linger on me a bit longer than anyone else. "Tonight, we will begin with dagger training. Each of you will line up and throw five daggers at a dummy. From there, I will split you into groups depending on your skill level."

_'Excellent,_' I thought. I had trained in throwing daggers before so I was relieved that we would be starting off with something I knew.

"None of you will be instructed in the throwing techniques as it will allow us to see just how much work you need." Harry continued his instructions. "We start, now." he commanded and we all turned toward the dummy.

I was at the end of the line of seven men, so I was able to see how well they did. It seemed as if none of them knew what they were doing; their stances were off and the threw by the handle of the provided daggers. Some of them were lucky enough to hit the dummy, but none of them had placed a fatal throw. The line continued to move up after each turn and before I knew it, it was my turn.

I stepped up the the tray that held the daggers and behind me I could hear whispers of 'girls can't throw' or 'this ought to be a laugh'. I chanced a quick look at Blaise who stood with his arms crossing his chest and his eyebrow quirked. Looking back at the dummy, I picked up the first dagger and held it by the blade, once again I heard whispers but this time they all were along the line of 'she doesn't even know which end to hold it by'.

Weighing the dagger in my hand, I made a note that it was light, so it would need much force behind the throw. Eying the dummy I picked the first area to target, the head. I raised my arm and with a quick flick of my wrist, the dagger embedded itself dead center between the eyes. The room got silent and out of the corner of my eye I could see many of the Aurors shift so they could watch me throw.

I picked up the next dagger and went through the same process; weighing it and then picking my target. Once again I raised my arm and released the dagger, this time it landed in the throat. Repeating the same steps I released my next two daggers, one to the stomach and the other to the lung. Picking up my last dagger, I realized that this one was the heaviest of the five and, judging by the reactions of everyone in the room, they all knew it was and that it would be the hardest to throw because it required immense power and impeccable aim.

Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes to focus my energy. When I opened them, I sighted my final target and aimed my throw. Drawing my arm back, I released my dagger with all of the energy I could muster and it landed square in the heart, burying itself deep into the dummy.

The room was quiet as I lowed my arm from the throw and turned to the rest of the room. Harry had an unreadable expression on his face while Blaise had a glint in his eyes as he tried to hide his smirk. I had showed everyone up and, deep inside, I was proud of myself, but I refused to show it.

Finally, Harry broke the silence, "It seems that Miss Blayke here, was able to achieve something that none of the rest of you could. How is it, that none of you could do what _she_ has? How do you feel letting a _girl_ surpass you?"My eyes opened wide in shock at his blatantly sexist remark.

"Gentlemen, drop and give me one-hundred pushups. Miss Blayke, you may leave" he dismissed me and then began counting out the pushups.

I walked out of the training room followed by the Aurors and each one congratulated me on a job well done as they passed me.

"You were amazing." I heard Blaise's voice as he caught up to me when I began making my way up the stairs.

"Thanks."

"Where did you learn to throw like that?" he asked as we reached the top of the stairs and began walking down the hall that led to the second set of stairs.

"My father." I responded and began making my way up the second flight of stairs.

"Well you were wicked. You did better than some of the other Auror's can do." at this I stopped my ascent and turned to face Blaise who was still at the base of the stairs.

"Really?" I asked curiously.

"Really." he said with a genuine smile. "I'll see you in the morning, yeah?"

I nodded in agreement and began turning to continue up the stairs.

"Goodnight, Anna." he called after me.

"Goodnight, Blaise." I called back over my shoulder.

When I made it back to my room, I quickly stripped out of my clothes, undid my braid, and wrapped myself in a towel, preparing myself for a shower. Grabbing my shower stuff, I walked out of my room and down the hall, eventually finding the showers. Walking into one of the shower stalls, I hung up my towel outside, turned on the water and pulled the curtain shut.

I let the warm water wash away all of the grime from my travels and the evening's trainings. At one point I heard some males chuckling, but I dismissed it as one of them telling a joke. It was when I was done with my shower and I pulled back the curtain that I noticed the joke was on me; my towel was gone. I sighed and let out an audible groan of frustration; I had left my wand in my room so there was no way I could just summon another towel. Stepping out of the shower, I collected my things and tried to cover myself up with my arms as much as possible.

Confidently, I strode into the hall and ignored all of the sniggers and wolf calls I heard as I made my way back to my room. That's when I collided into the last person that I wanted to see that evening. Looking up, I saw Harry with his eye wide in shock before narrowing them.

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS MISS BLAYKE?" Harry's voice boomed and I heard a chorus of doors slamming shut behind me.

"I seemed to have... misplaced my towel." I replied quietly. There was a rumble of footsteps as more Auror's joined us on the trainee floor; I looked up to catch Blaise appraising me with a smirk and I blushed.

"Get to your room." Harry bit.

"Yes, sir." I said as I quickly made my way to my room, having to pass Harry in the process; I could feel his eyes following me every step of the way. When I had finally made it to the solitude of my room, I closed the door quickly behind me and let out a breath I hadn't noticed I was holding.

I grabbed one of my spare towels and dried myself off before slipping on my night clothes. After setting my alarm clock, I shut off the light and stared at the ceiling.

_'This is going to be a long year,' _I thought to myself.


	3. Chapter 3

**-Harry's POV-**

After Anna's little towel incident, I walked down to my office and, after pouring myself a scotch from my liqueur cabinet, I sat in front of the roaring fire and thought about everything that had gone on today. I had been angry this evening when the ministry vehicle had brought her to the front gate, late; and when she stepped out of the car, my anger only grew. She was a very attractive woman with her auburn hair and she was definitely physically fit as I could see her muscle tone through her tight jeans and blouse. However, it was her eyes that drew me in the most; they were a very light gray color, almost like a milky silver. How was I going to focus on my work while fighting an attraction to her?

Then tonight, when she came to dinner accompanied by Blaise, I felt my blood boil. I knew the character Blaise was; I had seen it all too often when I encountered him at the ministry. He was a womanizer, and a successful one at that, judging by the trail of heartbroken women he left behind him. I sat in my seat at the head of one of the tables and watched as Blaise pulled out Anna's chair; she sat with her back toward me and Blaise across from her. About halfway through the meal, she leaned forward to talk to Blaise, and they launched into what seemed to be an intense discussion.

I grew tired of sitting in my seat so, with a loud scrape of my chair, I stood up and announced that the evenings training session would begin shortly. With that, I walked out of the room, not looking at any of the people in the room. Fifteen minutes later, I burst into the training room and called the trainees to line up while the seasoned Aurors leaned against the wall on the opposite side of the room. Walking up and down the line, I looked at the group I had to work with this year; most of them looked out of shape and weak, and they held with some sort of fake confidence. My eyes then landed on Anna who stood at the end of the line closest to the door, her eyes locked with mine. I couldn't help but to admire how the training uniform complimented her figure and the way she held herself was not in false confidence, but with real confidence; there was more to this woman than meets the eye. When her eyes broke to the floor, I could tell my gaze had stayed to long and had made her uncomfortable.

After announcing the instructions for the evenings training, I stepped back and watched the night's events unfold. All of the male trainees were awful at dagger throwing and it infuriated me; I was beginning to loose hope for this trainee class. When the seventh guy had finished failing at hitting the target, I wanted to call off the training and just make the group run. However, the way that Anna walked up to the tray that held the daggers, I couldn't bring myself to end the test. She picked up one of the daggers by the blade and weighed it in her hand; she knew what she was doing. The rest of her trainees whispered about her holding it wrong, or being a girl, and I rolled my eyes before focusing back on Anna who had her arm poised, ready to throw.

She released the first dagger and it landed directly between what would have been the dummy's eyes. I stood up a little straighter, full of intrigue, while the rest of my Aurors shifted so they could get a better view of Anna. She used the same methods for the next three daggers, each one landing on the dummy; one to the throat, one to the stomach, and the third to a lung. As she picked up the last dagger, the one I knew to be the heaviest, I watched her as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened her eyes, she loosed the dagger from her hand with such a great force that when it met its target, the dummy's heart, it buried itself so only half the handle had been sticking out of the dummy. She had landed each one of her daggers in fatal spots; everyone stood in silent awe, many of her peers glaring at her.

"It seems that Miss Blayke here, was able to achieve something that none of the rest of you could. How is it, that none of you could do what _she_ has? How do you feel letting a _girl_ surpass you?" I began, breaking the silence that had taken over the room. When I said that, I saw her eyes widen in shock; I admit it did come off rather sexist, but I had to keep up my hard exterior. "Gentlemen, drop and give me one-hundred pushups. Miss Blayke, you may leave" I dismissed her and she left the room, being congratulated by the Aurors. I began to count out the pushups and by the time I had reached thirty, all of the trainees could barely bring themselves off the floor.

"Alright, that is enough, I am tired of watching your pathetic and weak attempts, leave my sight." I commanded and they all ran out of the room as fast as they possibly could.

After removing the daggers from the dummy and replacing them in the case that they came from, I began walking to my office. That is when I heard loud laughs coming from the trainee floor, accompanied by thunderous footfalls.

_What are they up to?_ I had thought as I climbed the stairs to the trainee floor. I had only made it so far down the trainee hallway when something, or someone, had collided with me. When I looked down, I saw Anna, very wet and very naked, trying to cover up herself as best as she could.

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS MISS BLAYKE?" I bellowed.

"I seemed to have... misplaced my towel." she had responded to me quietly. I could hear the rumble of footsteps as the Aurors joined us on the floor; they always liked to see the trainees get in trouble.

"Get to your room." I had demanded to Anna, not wanting to leave her so exposed in the hallway.

"Yes, sir." she had responded before quickly making her way into her room, passing me in the process. I couldn't stop my eyes from following her; she really had a great body. I shook myself from my daze and turned on my heel, making a beeline for my office.

Here I was now, sitting by the fire, nursing a scotch. Anna reminded me of Ginny; I could tell there was a fire burning inside of her to prove herself. Unlike Ginny, however, she _was_ my work, so I knew she couldn't run away from me as easily as Ginny did from our relationship. I tossed back the rest of my drink and got ready for bed.

The next morning, I had awoken at my usual time and readied myself for the day. I made my way to the dining hall and sat down in my seat, awaiting the arrival of the rest of the mansion's occupants. Eventually, they began slowly trickling in slowly, filling in the tables as they did so; Blaise had shown up to breakfast alone and I let out a sigh of relief. Anna was the last one to enter and when she did, all of the trainees burst into whispers; she held her head high, acting as if last night did not happen, and she made her way to the last available seat, and that happened to be next to me. She ate her meal in silence, never once making eye contact with me. I made no effort to acknowledge her presence and kept my eyes roaming the dining hall as I ate.

When the meal was nearing its end, I stood from my chair, "Training will begin in ten minutes, DO NOT BE LATE." I commanded and strode out of the room, making my way to the training room.

Almost immediately, the Aurors and trainees walked in to the room and began to prepare themselves for the day's training. This time, Anna entered with Blaise who had been laughing as if she had told him a joke. Blaise's eyes connected with mine and he quirked his eyebrow at me before returning his attention to Anna. Once the last person had entered, I cleared my throat and began talking about today's training.

"Today, we will be working on putting up blocks when you are hit with certain curses. By then end of your training program, you should be able to prevent yourself from being influenced by an Imperius curse, and to tolerate the Cruciatus curse up to a certain level. Any questions?" I began and, when no one raised their hand, I moved on. "Very well then, who would like to volunteer?" I asked and no one stepped forward, so I picked out a volunteer, "Miss Blayke, step forward." I don't know why I chose her, perhaps I was intrigued by her ability to throw last night and I wanted to see what else she could do.

Anna stepped forward hesitantly and took her place on one end of the room. She pulled out her wand and I immediately disarmed her.

"You will not be needing that. You need to learn to rely on you mental abilities to block because you will not always have you wand." I explained.

Defeated, she stood there,arms at her side, and waited for what was to come. I raised my wand and pointed it at her before firing the first curse; the Imperius curse. I saw her eyes cloud over and I knew my curse had landed true.

"Miss Blayke, why don't you go ahead and give me a round of applause for allowing you into this program." I instructed. Her arms began to move up from her sides and I smirked, but when she only crossed her arms, my smirk fell. "No? How about you do a handstand?" I suggested, this time she did not move. I lifted the curse, impressed by her ability, "Shall we move on then Miss Blayke?" when she did not respond I took that as her consent to move on.

With another wave of my wand, I cast the next curse on her, the Cruciatus Curse. She visibly flinched when the curse hit her and I could see the pain in her eyes; It hurt me to see her like this but I could not be soft on her. Despite all the pain she must have felt, she still stood in front of the room, looking strong. After a few minutes I lifted the curse, as soon as it had lifted, she ran to one of the far corners of the room and emptied the contents of her stomach. My eyes followed Blaise as he walked over to Anna and I narrowed them when he began trying to soothe her. When she had finished being sick, I waved my wand to clear away the mess before addressing the room.

"Does anyone know how Anna was able to resist the curses?" I asked.

"You went easy on her, because she is a girl..." I heard someone mutter in the room. I could not make out where the voice came from but it was apparent that Anna did because she walked over to one of her fellow trainees and punched him square in the face.

"Miss Blayke! What you have just done was unacceptable!" I was in shock as to what she had just done. "Mr. Zabini, take over the lesson. Miss Blayke, follow me."

I turned on my heel and left the training room, Anna close behind me as I led her into the dining hall. Once we had entered and the door had shut behind her, I turned to face her, struggling to keep the rage controlled.

"Miss Blayke, I do not condone what you have just done. It does not matter that he insulted you, you DO NOT act out in rage." with my wand I summoned a mop, a sponge, and a full bucket of soapy water. "For your punishment, you will be mopping the floors and scrubbing the tables... WITHOUT MAGIC. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir." she responded, her eyes cast downward.

"Very well, hand me your wand and you may begin." I instructed.

Anna handed me her wand and then I left to return to the training gym to finish the lesson.


	4. Chapter 4

**-Anna's POV-**

"_Mop the floors and scrub the tables._" I mimicked Harry after I heard the door to the training room open and close. Deciding I would do the tables first, I grabbed the sponge and bucket and walked up to the first table.

As I scrubbed, I began to rant to myself, "Sure I will scrub the tables, because I am your maid, and that is what maids do, we scrub the table. Don't worry, I don't take it personally that I have to do this AFTER you hit me with two Unforgivables; I will be okay. Next time I just won't punch someone in front of you, I will wait until you turn your back and then I will punch you in the..."

"I don't think Harry would appreciate that..." I heard a voice from the door and I nearly jumped out of my skin.

Turning around, I saw Blaise and I placed a hand over my heart,"Jeez, Blaise, how about a warning next time?"

"And miss your rant? No way." he responded as he came up next to me. "By the way, Matthew Robson, the guy you hit, had also been punished. More so than you, I might add."

"You mean there is something worse than cleaning without magic?" I asked incredulously.

Blaise just chuckled, "You obviously didn't go to Hogwarts." When I glared at him, he continued on, "Robson does not get his free day this weekend PLUS he has to do a research scroll. Trust me, you got lucky."

"I haven't even been here a full day and I already have become everyone's target. Why does everyone have to be so against me?" I asked as I frustratedly threw the sponge in the bucket, causing a big splash.

"Because you are a girl, and you intimidate them." Blaise admitted.

"Me? How am I intimidating?"

"Seriously? You kicked ass throwing daggers last night and then this morning when you were able to work against Harry's curses. _Harry's _Curses." he exclaimed for extra emphasis.

"Okay, but that doesn't help my problem..."

"That's my point, you _don't_ have a problem. Don't let anyone else make you regret your skill. Speaking of which, where did you _learn_ all of this stuff?"

"Around..." I responded nonchalantly.

"You don't just learn stuff like that _around_ anywhere." Blaise stated unbelieving.

I grabbed the sponge from the bucket and returned to scrubbing the table, "Then it is a conversation for another time."

Blaise wrapped his arms around me and placed his hands on top of mine that were scrubbing with the sponge. I felt some sort of spark shot up my arms and I stopped my movements, holding my breath.

"What about Sunday?" he asked.

I released my held breath before responding, "Sunday?"

I could feel a deep rumble in Blaise's chest as he chuckled behind me, "The _one_ day that we have free to whatever and go wherever we want, Anna."

"I...I... I guess. Sure." I finally stumbled out.

"Good then, it's a date." he said as he released my hands but before he could step away from me, the door to the dining hall opened.

"Zabini, I told you to check on her, not seduce her." came Harry's voice from the door; he looked livid.

"Easy there, Potter, I was just trying to get her to stop her incessant scrubbing so she would respond to me." Blaise explained with his hands up in defense, stepping away from me.

"Get out of my sight, Zabini. You're lucky you are already an Auror otherwise I would kick you out of the camp." Harry demanded.

"Someone's got his knickers in a twist." Blaise whispered in my ear before he left the dining hall.

Once Blaise had left the hall, Harry turned his attention back to me, "Miss Blayke, when you are done here you will return to your room for the rest of the day, only to join the rest of us for meals. Do I make myself clear?"

"But I..."

"DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?"

"Yes, sir" I said in defeat.

"You can leave the supplies in the corner when you are done."

Harry turned and left the room, leaving me to return to my work. I finished up my cleaning a quickly as possible and then made my way upstairs to my room. As soon as my door shut, I flopped onto my bed and sighed with exhaustion. Turning over to my clock to see how time I had left until lunch, I noticed there was a note on my side table. Sitting up, I grabbed it and saw a masculine, yet elegant, script upon it.

It read:

_Anna,_

_Please forgive me for getting you into further trouble._

_If you are still willing, I would still like to take you into town on Sunday evening at 6pm._

_Dress nicely as I wish to take you to one of my favorite places._

_Humbly Yours,_

_Blaise V. Zabini, _

I sighed as I lay back on the bed again. Was it even right for me to go on this...date... with Blaise? I'm sure trainees were not permitted to do such things but, then again, we are all adults here. I let out a groan as I realized one other important fact, I didn't have anything nice to wear.

The rest of the first week passed quickly and, for the most part, things seemed to have gotten better. None of the other trainees felt as if they needed to give me a hard time and had even started to come to me for advice in certain areas. I had continued to exceed expectations in potions, defense spells and weaponry. Harry, however, seemed to get angrier and angrier with me as the days went on. Needless to say, I was happy when Sunday came and I was finally able to leave the mansion for awhile.

Even though my evening out with Blaise wasn't for a few hours, I still needed to go into town beforehand to get something nice to wear. I pulled on a pair of dark wash denim skinny jeans and a gray blouse before slipping on my flats and grabbing my wallet; I was so happy to be in regular clothes again. Deciding to leave my hair down in loose waves, I made my way downstairs and out the main door.

When I stepped into the Sunday sunshine, I inhaled the fresh air and couldn't help the smile that placed itself on my face. I walked to the edge of the property and began my trip down the dirt road to the nearest town. After about a half hours walk, I had finally made it to town and began browsing around all of the shops. Eventually, I stumbled upon a small boutique and stepped inside, hoping to find a dress for the evening.

Combing through the racks of dresses, I tried to find something that was nice but didn't scream desperate. After what seemed like hours of searching, I found a navy blue satin dress that had a fitted bodice and pleated skirt. Selecting a pair of nude pumps, I made my way to the cash counter and paid for my items.

Strolling back out into the afternoon sun, I made my way to the local pub to grab some lunch before heading back to the mansion. Sitting at one of the booths, I ordered a salad with a glass of water and stared out the window. I saw Harry walking along the street and I couldn't keep my eyes off of him; something about this man fascinated me. Blaise had told me they were in the same year in school but Harry looked so much older, probably due to the war that Blaise had given me bits and pieces of information about. His handsome emerald eyes held such a pain that...

_Wait... his eyes are locked with mine. Shit, he knows I was looking at him... and he is coming this way! _I thought as he made his way into the pub and over to my booth. I tried to duck down but it was no use.

"Good afternoon, Miss Blayke." he greeted.

"Mr. Potter." I responded, my gaze not meeting his.

"Can I sit here? Everywhere else is full..." Harry asked.

"Er... sure." I gestured to the seat opposite me.

"Thanks." he said as he took a seat.

"Here is your salad, Miss. What can I get for you, sir?" the waitress came up and asked Harry as she placed my salad in front of me.

"I'll take what shes having." he said as he nodded to my salad.

The waitress left while Harry and I sat in an awkward silence as I ate my salad. She returned just as I finished my salad and I asked her for my bill.

"I'll get it." Harry chimed in and, for the first time that meal, my eyes snapped up to Harry's.

"Oh, no, it's fine." I said.

"I will get it. I intruded on your peaceful lunch, so it's only fair that I pay." he insisted.

"Oh...okay. Thank you, then." I said as I stood up, grabbing my bags and made my way to the door. Before I stepped out though, I doubled back and placed a hand on Harry's shoulder, "You didn't intrude by the way." I don't what made me do that, but I felt like he found himself burdensome sometimes and nobody should feel that way. Harry didn't respond and I made my way out of the pub and back up toward the mansion.

By the time I got back up to my room, it was time for me to start getting ready for the evening. I took a quick shower before changing into my new dress and shoes and then used my wand to dry and curl my auburn hair. Checking myself in the mirror that hung in the wardrobe, I made sure everything looked alright before taking in a deep breath and let it out. There was a knock at my door and I went to open it; Blaise was standing outside of my door dressed in an all black suit.

"Hey An... wow... you look bloody fantastic!" he exclaimed when I stepped out into the hallway.

"Thanks, Blaise." I said with a blush.

"Shall we go then?" he asked as he offered me his arm, which I took with a smile.

We walked down the stairs and out into the early evening air. Blaise led me around the mansion to a sleek black car and he opened the door for me to get in.

"A car?" I asked with a quirked eyebrow as he helped me in.

"What's wrong with that?" he asked with an equally raised eyebrow and a smirk as he shut the door and then went around to the drivers side.

"I just didn't take you for someone who drove." I said jokingly.

"Well... that hurts!" he faked, his smirk growing into a smile as he started the car.

"So where are you taking me?" I asked as we made our way down the drive and out onto the open road.

"It's a surprise." he said as he sped off.

As Blaise drove, he told me more about his life after he graduated school, including what his training camp experience was like. An hour later, we were in a town that bordered a large body of water and Blaise was helping me out of a car; the place looked like a dump on the outside.

"Blaise?" I asked as I took his hand.

"Hmm?"

"No offense but... I thought you had better taste than... oh" I began but my words were cut off when he led me through the main door and instantly we were in an elegant five-star Italian restaurant.

"I love magic." I heard Blaise say next to me and I simply nodded.

"Welcome, Mr. Zabini. It is always a pleasure to see you." the host said as we approached him. "Table for two?" he asked.

"Yes, please." Blaise responded with a smile and the host led us to a private table in the back.

"Would you like a glass of wine to begin your evening?" the host asked as Blaise pulled out my chair for me.

"Yes, sir, the best you have." Blaise responded as he took his own seat.

With a pop the host produced a bottle of wine and poured both of us a a glass before proceeding to hand us our menus.

"What do you think?" the host asked as both of us took a sip.

"It's lovely." I responded and took another sip.

"Mr. Zabini, you have yourself a beautiful girlfriend here." the host remarked and a chocked on my sip of wine.

"Oh... we aren't..." I began but Blaise silenced me with quirk of his eyebrow.

"Well, I will leave you to your dinners. Have a lovely evening." the host dismissed himself.

Once Blaise and I were alone again, he leaned forward to talk to me.

"What do you think?" he asked.

"This place is wonderful." I responded truthfully.

Blaise nodded, "If you need me to translate anything on the menu for you, let me know. I _do _speak fluent Italian after all."

This time it was my turn to quirk and eyebrow and smirk as I spoke my order to my plate, in perfect Italian.

"And apparently, you do too." Blaise commented.

After placing his order, Blaise turned his attention to me and I knew that I was about to be attacked with questions.

"So, you speak Italian?"

"As well as French, German, Spanish, and Russian..." I added

"Wheredid you learn all of this stuff? Is there anything you _can't_ do?" Blaise asked incredulously as he took another sip of his wine.

"I'm not very good in hand-to-hand combat. As you can see, I am not that big. Also, I can't dance; it's like I have two left feet." I admitted.

"Okay but _where_ did you learn all of this?"

"My father. Carsen Blayke..." I trailed off as I took a sip of my wine; I knew what was coming next.

"Carsen Blayke... why does the sound... hold on, you mean _THE _Carsen Blayke, only the most notorious Auror to ever walk the planet? Besides Harry that is..."

"Yep. That's my father."

"How... why... _WHAT_ made you come here when your father is so... brilliant? Why has no one ever heard of his daughter? How have you never known anything about the war over here?" he bombarded me with questions.

"Well... training under my father is not all it is cracked up to be, he wasn't fond of training me. He didn't want anyone to hear of me because, well, he never told me the reason why. As for not knowing about what went on over here, he tried to shelter me from the world; didn't want me to have even more of a reason to become and Auror. He wasn't... isn't... the most supportive of fathers."

"I am... wow..." Blaise stumbled out, speechless.

"Please don't treat me differently... now that you know. It's why I don't like telling anyone."

"You know, if you told Harry he would probably back off..."

"I don't want him to. I don't want special treatment. Please Blaise, don't tell anyone." I begged.

"It's not my secret to tell." he said; moments later our food appeared in front of us.

We ate our meal in peace, carrying on small conversation, and when we were done, Blaise led me back out to the car. By that time, I had had a few more glasses of the wine and I was feeling its effects; Blaise still seemed completely sober, good thing seeing as he was driving. The car ride back to the mansion was silent; when we pulled around back, Blaise turned off the car and then turned to face me.

"So, I bet your boyfriends were intimidated by your father weren't they?" he asked.

"Are we back on the father subject again? Hhhhh... I wouldn't know if he had intimidated them because I have never had a boyfriend..." I responded.

"Seriously? _You_ have never had a boyfriend?"

"Yes, let's make fun of Anna who has never had a boyfriend..."

"I wasn't making fun of you... it is just hard to believe because you are quite beautiful." Blaise said as he tucked a bit of my hair that had fallen in my face behind my ear.

Blaise let his fingertips trail from my forehead, along the side of my face and to my chin and he ran his thumb over my bottom lip. I closed my eyes at his touch as his fingers lifted my chin up and I felt his lips connect with mine; they were warm and gentle.

Blaise pulled away suddenly, causing me to open my eyes quickly, "Was that your first..."

"No, Blaise." I said as I pulled his face toward mine and once against his lips were on mine.

I don't know how long we stayed like that but suddenly, there was a knock on Blaise's window and we broke the kiss. Harry was standing outside of Blaise's car, his arms crossing over his chest.

"Yes, Potter?" Blaise asked with a smirk as he opened the car door.

"Miss Blayke has training in the morning. I suggest you stop snogging and allow her to get some rest." Harry responded sourly.

"Why do you always have to ruin my fun, Potter?" he asked as he stood from the car, shut his door, and made his way over to my side.

"I am merely protect the virtue of young, impressionable, women." Harry responded as Blaise opened my door and helped me out. "Now, will, you please go set the wards on the main gates? I will walk Miss Blayke inside."

"Whatever." Blaise said as he strode off to the gate.

I began walking to the mansion, Harry behind me, but was stopped just before I entered when he tugged on my arm.

"I mean it, Miss Blayke." he said.

"Mean what?" I asked confused.

"You really need to watch yourself around Blaise; I know how he is with women." Harry warned before walking into the mansion.

I followed Harry in and made my way up to my room, wondering what Harry meant.

_Surely Blaise couldn't be that bad, he was a perfect gentleman the entire night... wasn't he? _I wondered. When I got into my room, I shut my door and kicked off my shoes, thankful to be out of the heels. There was a knock on my door and I opened it to see Blaise standing there once again.

He cupped my face and crashed his lips against mine. "I just had to give you a goodnight kiss." he said once he had broken away.

"Goodnight, Blaise." I said with a smile and a blush.

"Sleep well." he said before he placed one more small peck on my lips and then made his way back down to his quarters.

Shutting my door, I leaned against it with a sigh. With a shrug, I decided that I was just going to ignore what Harry said; after all, Blaise couldn't be _that_ bad... could he?


	5. Chapter 5

**YAY! A NEW CHAPTER! I would like to apologize for the long wait but this one was a really hard one to write as I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do yet. There are probably tiny mistakes here and there and I will come back and edit it when I have "fresh" eyes. For now, please enjoy! Also, I am thinking about naming my chapters/ suggesting a "soundtrack" for the songs I used to write each chapter. yay/nay? Let me know what you think!**

**Always,**

**FP**

-Harry's POV-

I don't know why I felt that I had to warn Anna about Blaise. Perhaps I felt sorry for her falling for his pathetic schemes to get laid. Although, now that I think about it, I must admit that he is not acting his usual womanizing self with her; after all, it has been a month since the night that I caught them kissing in his car. _Maybe he actually likes this girl._ I shook my head to rid myself of the thought as I made my way into my private chambers after a long day of weight training.

When I stepped inside, I noticed an owl perched at my window and I immediately went over to let it in and retrieve the message it was carrying. _What could the ministry possibly have to say at this time of night?_ I wondered. Breaking the seal on the letter after giving the owl a treat, I opened it and as I read it, I could feel a massive headache coming on. An attack had occurred in Scotland and I needed to prepare a team to send to investigate it.

The question was, however, who to send. It would be a good time to introduce my trainees into field experience with trained Aurors but none of the students were ready; except for Anna that is. Did I really want to send her out, though? Who could I send her with? I couldn't send Austin Fenchley, Martin Brown, or Colton Russel; while they were great fighters, they were daft when it came to undercover work. That left Zabini, but I was very hesitant to assign him to this mission with her. Not to mention that she had this romantic...thing... with Blaise. Would it jeopardize the mission? Regardless, they were the best trainee and Auror that I had so, naturally, they would be the best to send.

I let out a sigh as I ran my hand over my face and then through my hair. I didn't like the situation but there was nothing that I could do about it at the present moment. Collapsing onto my bed, I decided I would deal with the matter in the morning.

The following morning, I walked into the dining hall to see Blaise and Anna already at the table and eating. Blaise had his hand on Anna's knee and it made my skin crawl; why did something like this cause my blood to boil? Ignoring the 'couple', I made my way to my usual seat and began to shovel food onto my plate before eating in complete silence.

Scraping my chair back when I was done, I stood to announce the mornings training. "This morning, we will be doing physical fitness training starting in fifteen minutes. Mr. Zabini, Miss Blayke, I would like to speak with you in my office right now." I saw them look at each other with questioning looks, a slight hint of fear behind their eyes. Once again ignoring them, I strode out of the hall and up to my office, taking a seat behind my desk.

My office wasn't much, a dark mahogany desk with a high-backed upholstered chair sat at one end of the room; on the other sat two over stuffed chairs in front of a great fireplace. There was a knock at the door and I admitted the two requested people into my office. They stood in front of my desk as I leaned back in my chair pondering where to begin.

"I have been informed by the ministry that there has been an attack in a little village in Scotland. A few of the muggle occupants have been reported missing and traces of dark magic have been found in the area. The two of you will be going to investigate this case, you leave from King's Cross by train in an hour and you will be undercover so I suggest you dress appropriately. Miss Blayke, you are my best trainee and you exceptional abilities are why I have decided to allow you to go on this mission so early in your training, do not let me down." I explained.

"Yes, sir." she responded with a nod.

"I would also expect you to not let your... relationship... get in the way. Be professional." I added looking pointedly at Blaise. When Blaise responded with a curt nod, I dismissed the two from my office with instructions to pack light and to meet me in the entrance hall when they were ready.

_I really hope they don't screw this up._ I thought.

**-ANNA'S POV-**

_I can't believe he is letting me go on this mission, _I thought to myself as I moved around my room, packing a small bag for the trip.

In a small rucksack, I had thrown together a few pairs of undergarments, a change of pants, and a couple of shirts. I had already changed into a pair of jeans and a blouse and had replaced my combat boots with a pair of knee high boots with a three inch heel. No, they weren't practical, but muggles aren't always practical people.

Once my bag was packed, I walked out of my room and downstairs. When I reached the main hall, I saw Blaise and Harry looking at a map; Harry was no doubt instructing Blaise how to get to the village. As my feet reached the bottom step, both men looked up and acknowledged my presence; Harry with an unknown look and Blaise with a smirk accompanied with a quirked eyebrow. Blaise was dressed in a pair of black slacks, a hunter green polo, and shiny black shoes and held his arms crossed over his chest.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize I was supposed to dress nicer." I apologized as I walked up to the men.

"You look fine, this is just how I choose to dress in the muggle world." Blaise explained with a smile.

"Miss Blayke." Harry called for my attention.

"Yes, sir?" I asked as I turned to face him, standing a little bit taller as I did.

"This," he said handing me a sheathed dagger, "is for you. Technically, these are presented upon graduation from the program but I feel that it would be beneficial in this mission."

"Thank you, sir." I said as I took the dagger from his hand. My fingers brushed his as I took it and I felt a tingle in them. I sucked in a sharp breath as I quickly removed the dagger from his hand. Looking up at him, I tried to see if he had felt the same thing and, judging by the look on his face, I could tell he had. I heard Blaise clear his throat and both Harry and I snapped out of our daze; I tucked my dagger in my right boot.

"Right, as I have informed Blaise, you will stay overnight in Edinburgh and then tomorrow you will take a private car to the village. I have given Blaise the money the ministry has allotted for your travels so you should have plenty for this trip. Lastly, please be safe; Blaise, you know the rules, I expect you will let her know during your trip. You guys are free to leave." Harry dismissed us as he quickly made his way back into the training room.

"That was the shortest amount of time he has ever given that speech." Blaise said with a laugh as he led me out of the mansion and out to the main road.

When we got outside of the main gate, Blaise wrapped his arm around my waist and then looked at me, "Shall we?" he asked. I nodded and with a tug behind the navel, we appeared to the apparation point by King's Cross.

"I forgot how much I hated this place." I heard Blaise mutter as we weaved our way through the busy Monday morning station; Blaise now holding my hand.

"What time do we leave?" I asked.

"Nine." he responded as we finally got to the platform we would be leaving from. Our train was already in the station so he guided me onto the train and to a row with two empty seats.

"How long is the train ride?"

"Harry said it should be around four hours." Blaise said as he leaned back in the seat, closing his eyes, trying to stretch out his long legs as best as he could.

"Why aren't we just apparating there?"

"You sure have a lot of questions this morning." Blaise said while he quirked one of his eyebrows, his eyes still closed.

"Sorry... I just..."

Blaise opened his eyes and wrapped an arm around my shoulders, "I'm just giving you a hard time" he chuckled as he pulled me into him and placed a kiss on my head. "We, meaning the ministry, try to refrain from international apparating as it is highly traceable and we, meaning you and I, need to remain as anonymous as possible on our mission."

The train began to move and a man came down the aisle to check our tickets. Blaise handed the man our tickets and waited for them to be stamped before replacing them in the pocket he had pulled them out of. Once Blaise put our tickets away, he pulled out the map that he and Harry had been looking at earlier.

"So here," he began by pointing to Edinburgh, "is where we will stay for the night. Here" he pointed to another location outside of Edinburgh, "is where we will be headed tomorrow. It is only about an hour out so we don't have to worry about rushing in the morning."

"Why..." I began to ask another question but, before I could even begin it, Blaise had captured my lips in a kiss.

"Enough questions, love. You will get all of your answers in time." he said when he pulled away.

"Okay..." was all I could respond with as Blaise's kiss had taken my breath away.

Blaise finished telling me the plans for the mission and after which I spent the rest of the ride staring out of the window;eventually I fell asleep. About 5 minutes from the station, Blaise woke me up; at some point during my slumber my head had ended up on Blaise's shoulder but he made no comment. We grabbed our bags before exiting the train and we made our way through the crowded station; I tried to stay as close to Blaise as possible so I wouldn't lose him.

Once we had walked out of the station, we began winding our way along the street toward the inn we would be staying at. Blaise held the door open for me as we reached the inn and we walked up to the bar counter, only to be greeted by a cheery old woman with the most beautiful blue eyes.

"Hello dears, what can I do for you?" she asked.

"Do you have any availabilities, ma'am?" Blaise asked politely.

"We certainly do, and I just happen to have the perfect room for such a lovely couple."

"Oh...we aren't..." I tried to correct her but Blaise applied strong pressure to my foot to keep me from finishing. When I glared at him, he gave me a pointed look and I bit my tongue to refrain from saying anything and I had been on a couple of dates this past month but we had yet to define what we were. It was beginning to become overwhelming to hear other people define our relationship, if you could call it that, before I even knew where we stood.

"We would gladly take the room." Blaise said with a dazzling smile.

"Excellent. May I have your names?" she asked.

"I'm Blaise and this is Annalisse." he responded gesturing toward me.

"What brings you to Edinburgh?"

"We're to visit some family up the coast tomorrow." Blaise responded to her questioning smoothly and with a smile.

"Oh, how lovely. I will show you to your room now if you follow me. If you find that it is to your liking, you can come down and pay for it as soon as you have settled." she said as she walked from behind the counter, keys in hand, and led us to a set of stairs.

We followed her up the flight of stairs and down to the end of a short hallway. She used the keys she held in her hand to unlock the door and then pushed it open. It took all my might to not gag at the sight of what was on the other side of the door. The room was bathed in shades of pinks, purple, and reds and in the center stood a big, heart shaped bed. While the old woman's back was turned to us, I chanced a quick look at Blaise and found that his face had blanched white; inwardly, I smiled at the thought that at least Blaise would suffer for not allowing me to correct the woman.

"Here you are, dears." she turned to us with a smile and a twinkle in her eyes. "Is it to your liking?"

"Er... perfect... thank you." Blaise responded, seeming to have regained his composure.

"Alright then, feel free to come down and pay once you are settled." she said with an even bigger smile before handing Blaise the key and then walking back the way she had led us.

"Well... it... er..." Blaise began once the woman was out of earshot and the door was shut.

Before I could berate Blaise for his behavior that led us into this hell hole, a silvery stag appeared in the room.

"Just received word from the Ministry; there is another attack going on in the village. GET THERE NOW, no time for anonymity." with that Harry's stag patronus dissipated and Blaise instantly wrapped an arm around my waist and apparated us to the village. With a pop, we appeared in the middle of a pig pin with me on my bum and I glared at Blaise.

"Sorry!" he exclaimed as he pulled me up from the mud and used his wand to clean me.

"Let's just go to where we are needed." I responded as I clambered over the fencing, Blaise followed suit.

Just as our feet had landed on the other side, we heard an agonizing scream and took off toward the source of the noise, wands in hand. As we reached the source of the noise, my free hand flew up to cover my mouth as I tried to keep what little I had in my stomach down; Bodies were littered everywhere, carelessly thrown amongst the rubble of, what I assumed to have once been houses; the stench of death permeated the air. There, in the middle of the area, was a figure cloaked in black and holding his wand to the throat of a young woman. Blaise and I ducked behind a building and Blaise explained his plan to me.

"I need you to disillusion yourself and go to the other side of them. I will distract the man and then you can stun him long enough for us to get the woman out of there."

"Look, that's a great plan and all but..."

"There is no time to argue about this, Anna. Harry put me in charge of this mission and I will make sure it gets seen through."Blaise snapped.

Not wanting to deal with him, I disillusioned myself and carefully picked my way to the other side of the scene. When I had made it safely without a problem, I released the spell and hid behind an overturned market cart, Blaise stepped out from behind where we had hidden.

"You have caused enough devastation here, release the woman before I use force." he stated with authority.

"Who are _you _to tell _me _what I need to do?" the cloaked figured asked with a raspy voice.

"I am an Auror from the Ministry of Magic; now, release the woman and no one else gets hurt today." Blaise said as he cautiously stepped forward. I remained where I was hidden and waited for Blaise's cue.

"You have come far enough," the figure spoke, "and you can tell your partner behind me that she can come out from behind the building as well." he gestured over his shoulder toward my direction.

I stepped out from behind the cart and raised my head, desperately trying to look authoritative.

"A woman? The Ministry sent you with a _woman_?" the cloaked figure laughed and I narrowed my eyes as I gripped my wand tightly. "Why don't you put your wand down, sweetheart, leave that to the big boys." he continued.

"Don't do it, Anna." Blaise commanded but I didn't listen. The cloaked figure still had his back to me and I knew that if I put my wand down, I could quickly grab my dagger from my boot and throw it. Slowly, I crouched down so I could toss my wand on the ground a few paces in front of me.

"Anna, no!" Blaised shouted as the cloaked figure laughed.

"And THAT, is why you don't bring a woman with you." the hoarse voice spoke.

With quick movements, I stood back up, grabbing my dagger and making aim at the figure. The blade landed between his shoulder blades and he released the woman from his hold. Blaise quickly took the woman and hid her behind the building as I picked my wand up and ran back toward Blaise.

"WHO ARE YOU?" I demanded of the figure as he curled on the ground while Blaise summoned a patronus to call for back up. The dagger I had landed was not fatal, but would prevent the figure from making any sudden movements, and that bought us time.

The figure laughed as blood began to drip from his mouth, "I am but a mere messenger of the Master."

"WHO SENT YOU?" Blaise asked coming up to my side.

"The Master, He will be very angry to know I have left witnesses." the figure croaked as he raised his wand once more and aimed it at the woman who had stepped from behind the building. Without hesitation, I stepped in front of the woman to shield her, my back burned white hot as the spell hit me. I fell to my knees and I felt Blaise come up and catch me before I could land face first onto the ground.

"What about..." I tried to ask about the figure but Blaise stopped me.

"He's been taken care of. Our back up has come and has him handled and they are helping the woman as well. Anna, listen to me, I need you to hang on so I can get you to Harry. He is the only one who can heal you right now., whatever you do, please don't close your eyes." Blaise said as he squeezed my hand tightly, before apparating us back to the mansion.

I was blinded with pain when we landed in front of the gates and I could just barely make out the figure of Harry running toward me. With reassurance that I was safe, I slumped forward in Blaise's arms and lets the darkness consume me.


	6. Chapter 6

-Anna POV-

When I came to my senses, I found that I was in a rather large, and quite comfortable, four-poster bed with red drapes. Startled and confused, I sat up quickly only to feel an agonized pain rip through my back. I let out a cry as a figure stood up from a chair in the corner of the room and moved to my side. Harry grabbed a vial from a small stand next to the bed and tried to get me to drink the potion inside. Still in a defensive state, I pursed my lips and refused to drink without knowing what it was.

"Relax, Blayke, it's just a potions to speed the healing and ease the pain. I'm not trying to poison you." he said as he once again pressed the vial to my lips. I swallowed the vial's contents in one gulp and gagged as the horrid tasting substance crawled down my throat.

Harry handed me a glass of water and I drank it down quickly, relief instantly flooding through my body. "What happened?" I asked.

"You were hit by a very strong curse that sliced open your back and the dark magic prevented your wounds from closing without the proper treatment. You're lucky Zabini got you here when he did; he may have been a half-wit in the field today but at least he remembered that I have dealt with this kind of stuff before. Your back was torn up badly and you lost a lot of blood." Harry explained as he gestured to my bandages.

I looked down at my wrapped torso and, suddenly, I became very aware that the only thing that separated me from Harry's eyes was the bandage that wrapped around me, starting at my armpits and winding down around one of my thighs. I pulled the bed covers up around my shoulders and Harry rolled his eyes.

"I promise I was a complete gentleman while you were unconscious. Plus, it's not like you gained an extra body part since your first night here." he made sure to remind me of my embarrassing first night here when I had to walk naked as the day I was born back to my room from the showers, thanks to my peers. Harry walked to a chest at the foot of the bed retrieving a few more vials from within it.

"How long was I unconscious?"

"Only a few hours, but you will need to stay here in bed for a few days while your wounds completely heal."

"Where exactly is here? I know for a fact this isn't my room."

"My private chambers." Harry stated simply.

I was shocked into silence, my mouth opening and closing, trying to find the right words to say but none came to mind.

"How did you heal me?" I asked finally.

"I have my ways..." was his only reply and I held my tongue knowing this was not a subject that I should approach any further.

Thankfully, the awkward silence was broken by a knock at the door and Harry placed the vials down on the side table and walked over to answer his door.

Blaise crossed the threshold carrying a tray of what I assumed to be food. "You're awake." he said with relief laced in his voice.

"I seem to be for the time being; yes." I responded sarcastically at his obvious statement.

"I will be back when you are done eating to administer the next round of potions. Mr. Zabini, I expect you in my office shortly." Harry said curtly before walking out of the room and shutting the door behind him with a click.

Blaise set the tray on my lap and then sat on the end of the bed by my feet, "I only brought you soup because I wasn't sure how hungry you would be when you woke up."

"Thank you, Blaise." I said with a grateful smile as I picked up the spoon and began to eat the chicken soup that was on the tray; I was careful to make sure the blankets didn't uncover my chest too much.

"Listen, Annalisse..." he began but I quickly cut him off.

"Blaise, it's Anna; The only person who calls me Annalisse is my father and it is only used on formal occasions." I corrected him as I set my spoon back on the tray.

"Anna," he said began grabbing one of my hands with both of his, "I am SO sorry that this happened to you. I have never frozen on the job before and I feel guilty that it caused you to get hurt. I am so ashamed of myself." he admitted and his voice was colored with sorrow; Blaise could not bring his eyes to meet mine.

"Look at me, Blaise." I instructed him and his eyes finally met mine, "Do not think for one second that what happened today was completely your fault. I wasn't exactly exercising complete caution today"

"You were protecting the woman, at all costs..."

"Yes, but..."

"No, Anna. You did the right thing; I just wasn't fast enough. Now, eat your soup; I am going to go get my ass chewed out by Harry. I will see you later; don't let him drive you crazy while you're stuck in here." he said as he stood up from the bed and made his way over to the door and opening it before turning to face me one last time. "No matter what, I'm just glad you will be okay." he said with a caring smile as he left the room and shut the door behind him.

I sighed as I returned to eating my soup in silence. When I was done, I set the tray at the foot of the bed and drew my uninjured leg toward my body and rested my chin upon it as I hugged the leg to my body.. I glanced around Harry's room and noticed that his walls were bare and held no hint of what the man was really like. The door opened and I was drawn from my thoughts with the return of Harry; with a wave of his wand, the tray disappeared from the edge of the bed.

"Did you get enough to eat?" he asked as he approached the bed and grabbed two of the three vials from the side table.

"Yes, I wasn't very hungry." I replied as I eyed the vials that he held in his hand.

"This is a blood replenishing potion." he stated as he handed me the first vial after uncorking it. I knocked back the potion and handed him back the vial, only to be handed another potion. "This one speeds up cell regeneration to close up the wounds on your back." he explained. Like the first, I knocked back the second potion and returned the vial. I tried to hide my reactions to the foul tasting potions as I did not particularly want to look like a child.

"What's the third one?" I asked gesturing to the last vial that sat on the side table.

"That would be a dreamless sleep potion; a good night's sleep will help the healing process. I didn't want to give it to you yet because I thought you might like to wash up before. I also have another potion that I need to apply directly to your wounds to keep them from getting infected." he explained.

"Oh...er... okay." I responded, unsure of what I was supposed to say.

"The bathroom is through that door." he said pointing to a door that sat on the opposite wall. "Er... let me get you a towel." he added as he went and opened the chest at the foot of his bed once again to retrieve a towel before handing it to me.

"Thank you." I said as I took the towel and held it to my front as I climbed out of the bed and then proceeded to wrap the towel around me as I stood up. Taking a moment to let the pain in my bandaged leg subside, I held on to the edge of the bed.

Slowly, I hobbled into the bathroom and flicked on the light; it was probably one of the grandest bathrooms I had ever been in. The counter that included the sink was carved from a beautiful white marble that matched the marble that created the bath in the center of the room; the fixtures were made from a glistening gold material. On the far side of the bathroom there was a shower and I made my way over to it and turned the water on. I hung the towel on the peg provided and carefully began to remove my bandages; my back stung as the bandages peeled away from my injuries with each layer I unraveled.

Once the bandage was completely removed, I walked back across the bathroom to stand in front of the mirror that hung over the sink. Turning my back to the mirror, I glanced over my shoulder to see the damage. There were three large gashes that looked as if a large beast had clawed at my back; they were mostly closed up but I could tell that they could reopen at any moment if I was not careful. There was another gash that was on the upper portion of my right thigh.; this one was not as bad as the rest as it was not as deep and, for the most part, had closed itself off. I made my way back over to the shower, pulled off the shorts I had been wearing thanks to Harry, and stepped inside, drawing the red curtain shut behind me.

I faced the stream of water so that it would not assault my wounded back. I pulled my hair over my shoulder and undid the hair-tie that held my plait in; undoing the braid, I stuck my head under the water to wash my black hair. A few minutes later, when I felt as if I had managed to rid my body of the day's grime, I turned off the shower and grabbed the towel to run it over my hair. When I was sure my hair was dry enough, I carefully wrapped the towel around my body and pulled the shorts back on.

Grabbing the soiled bandages, I walked out of the bathroom and back into Harry's bedroom. He was once again seated in the corner where he was when I had woken up earlier. As I stepped further into the room, he ushered me over to his bed and I followed hi direction.

"I need you to sit with your back facing me so I can apply the salve to prevent infections." He instructed and I did as he asked. With my legs crossed, I sat on the bed with the towel still firmly wrapped around my body.

I felt him loosen the ends of the towel and I gripped it as tight as I could to the front of my chest. He moved my damp hair to that it hung over my left shoulder. Behind me, I heard him unscrew the lid to what I assumed was the jar of salve and my thoughts were confirmed when I suddenly felt his fingertips on my back. Carefully he applied the balm to my wounds, leaving a fiery path where his fingertips had touched. His touch sent shivers of pleasure down my spine and I hoped that Harry hadn't noticed them.

"Is this causing a lot of pain for you?" he asked as his fingers stopped moving.

"Er... not a lot; it's just a little bit of pain." I lied, thankful that he didn't catch the real reason behind my reactions; hell, _I'm_ not even sure of the reasons behind them.

"Okay, tell me if the pain gets to be too bad so I can grab you another pain potion." he said gently as his fingers once again returned to applying the balm.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" I blurted out, unable to control my words.

Harry's hands stilled once more, his fingertips still on my skin and the feeling made a fiery path toward my core. "You don't honestly take me to be a cold- hearted man, do you?" he asked, a nearly untraceable hint of hurt in his voice.

"Well, no, but you aren't exactly nice to me... or to anyone...on a daily basis." I said as I turned my head to talk to him over my right shoulder.

"What do you expect me to do? Do you really need someone to hold your hand and lie to you about how real the world is? Once you leave this training camp, you will understand just how _real_ this world can be. Not everyone is going to be as happy and carefree as Blaise is."

"I didn't say you had to be like... like him." I said resignedly and Harry once again began to apply the balm to my back.

"Perhaps, if my... _stony_ exterior is too much for you to handle, maybe I should just let you go from the program." he added.

I whipped around as fast as I could to face Harry, not caring about my wounds "Please, don't remove me from the program. I didn't mean to say what I did; I was just confused is all. I can't leave this program now. I have to show my fa... I just... can't... I need this program." I pleaded.

"Relax, I'm not going to removed you from the program." he said calmly as he gestured for me to turn around again. I did as he asked and I felt him being to cover my wounds with a new bandage, this time using a sticking charm to hold them in place so I wasn't wrapped in bandages.

I felt something drop into my lap and I looked down to see a plain black shirt setting there, "What..." I began to ask but Harry beat me to it.

"You can use that to wear while you are in here as I am sure you do not wish to sleep without a shirt." he explained.

"Thank you" I said as I let the towel fall from around my chest and pulled the shirt on over my head and then pulled my now dry hair up into a messy bun.

"You're welcome." he responded as I turned around to face him, my legs now dangling over the side of the bed. "I also need to apply some of this balm to the wound on your leg." he informed me. I just nodded and allowed him to gently grab my leg.

If I thought the sensations his touch caused on my back were intense, they were nothing compared to the ones he caused when he held my right calf tucked under his left arm. He dipped his fingers into the jar of salve and then then slowly brought his hand to the hem of the shorts I was wearing; the second they touched my skin I sucked in a breath and held it. His masculine fingers began to massage the salve around my wound and I had to close my eyes to concentrate on not moaning; there was no way that I could lie and say that what I was feeling was pain.

Opening my eyes, I chanced a look at Harry's face to see how he was reacting to the situation. His hand stopped moving and he released my leg, I was scared about what he might do next. He brought the hand that was holding my leg up to brush back a strand of hair that had fallen out of my bun and into my face. When he didn't removed his hand right away I looked up into to his eyes and that's when I saw it; a flash of lust crossed his face and the next thing I knew, his lips were upon mine.


	7. Chapter 7

**I am SOOOOOOOOOO sorry for the delayed update! I meant to have this up by last Friday but I got so caught up in other things. I hope everyone enjoys this next chapter! Let me know what you think!**

**-FP-**

-HARRY'S POV-

After leaving Blaise with Anna when he brought her a tray of food, I made my way back to my office and paced in front of the fireplace as I waited for him to meet with me; I was internally conflicted. On one hand I was very angry with Blaise for letting something like this happen, he was one of my best Aurors, but on the other hand, he brought her to me before it was too late and they did manage to catch the criminal. I needed to know what exactly happened today seeing as when Blaise returned with a very injured Anna, I spent the entire time watching over her to make sure there were no other injuries other than the ones on her back and, as I later discovered, her thigh. When she had finally woken up, I had let myself release a silent sigh of relief; she would be okay... this time. I heard Blaise silently enter my office behind me and I tried my hardest to get my conflicting emotions in check before I turned to face him.

"Harry, I'm..." he began but I turned around cutting him off, my anger written on my face.

"WHAT IN THE BLOODY HELL HAPPENED!? WHY DID SHE COME BACK DAMN NEAR DEATH!?" I shouted and Blaise winced at my anger.

"It all happened so fast; we got your patronus and apparated to the village as quickly as we could. When we got there we heard a scream and ran toward the source; A cloaked man had the woman held at wandpoint. I told her... I forced her to disillusion herself and sneak behind the man... but he knew she was there..." Blaise broke for a moment, trying to control his emotions. It was obvious he was trying not to cry, "and then he... he made her put her wand down on the ground, but she was quick thinking and she grabbed her dagger from her boot and threw it at him, that's when I called for the backup. She questioned him, and he told us 'The Master' sent him and that this 'Master' would be angry that the woman he held at wand point was not dead. That's when he fired the curse... and that's when Anna dove in front of it. Harry, I didn't know what to do; I froze and I don't know why. You have to believe me Harry, I didn't mean for her to get hurt. She..."

"SHE COULD HAVE DIED! SHE ALMOST DID!" I cut him off again; there was no end to my anger.

"Harry..." he pleaded with me, his resolve broken as the tears began to fall down his face.

"You let your emotions get in the way of your duty." I said accusingly.

"I did." Blaise responded quietly as he nodded.

"I would send you back to your work at the Auror office in the ministry but you are valuable here. Therefore, you will cease any and all relations with her. You are to let her finish her training and do your best to steer clear of her. Do I make myself clear?" I knew my terms were unreasonable, and probably on the selfish side, but I had a reputation to uphold and if Aurors in my program turned up dead because they were in... _love_... then there would be hell to pay from the Ministry.

"Sir..." Blaise's eyes widened at my command.

"I asked, do I make myself clear?" I repeated sharply.

"Yes, sir." Blaise responded in submission.

"Good, now get out of my office. I have stuff I need to do, and don't think about stopping by to check on Anna." I instructed as I busied myself around my desk.

"Yes, Sir." he nodded as he turned and left my office.

I stood in the silence of my office for a few moments before I made my way to my personal chambers. When I reached my door, I couldn't bring myself to walk in just yet; how could I even face her after what I had just done? _Just don't make a fool of yourself,_ I thought.

I opened the door and stepped inside my chambers, "Did you get enough to eat?" I asked after I cleared the tray from the foot of her bed. _Nice one, idiot,_ I thought.

"Yes, I wasn't very hungry." she responded softly as she watched me pick up two of the vials off of the bedside table.

"This is blood replenishing potion." I informed her as I handed her the first vial and she tossed it back quickly. I was surprised when she did not make a face at the putrid potion and just handed me back the vial. "This one speeds up cell regeneration to close up the wounds on your back." I explained the second potion as I handed it to her. Just like the first one, she tossed it back without even a grimace.

"What's the third one?" she asked as she nodded toward the third vial I had left on the side table.

"That would be a dreamless sleep potion; a good night's sleep will help the healing process. I didn't want to give it to you yet because I thought you might like to wash up before. I also have another potion that I need to apply directly to your wounds to keep them from getting infected." I answered.

"Oh...er...okay."

"The bathroom is through that door." I said gesturing toward the door on the opposite wall. "Er... let me get you a towel." I added as I went to the chest at the foot of my bed and retrieved a towel from within before handing it to her.

"Thank you." she replied timidly as she took the towel and climbed out of the bed. When she stood, I could tell that she was having trouble putting weight on her injured leg. I was about to offer her help but she managed to hobble over to the bathroom and lock the door behind her.

Sighing, I threw myself into the chair that I had occupied the entire time that Anna was unconscious. How long could I keep up this charade; how long could I deal with the guilt that I just ruined her relationship with Blaise? Before I knew it, Anna was exiting the bathroom, bandages in hand, and I immediately stood up and gestured her to the bed.

"I need you to sit with your back facing me so I can apply the salve to prevent infections."I told her and she turned around. She crossed her legs in front of her and held the towel tightly to her body.

I used my wand to vanished the old bandages she had dropped on the floor before setting my wand on the table. Gently, I tried to loosen the ends of her towel so I could expose her back and put the salve on. Once I had a full view of her injured back, I gathered her hair and hung it over her left shoulder. Grabbing the salve off of the table, I unscrewed the lid and then scooped some of it onto my fingertips.

With as much care as I could managed, I lightly touched my coated fingertips to her injuries and began to apply the salve.

I could feel my hands shaking as I applied the salve and I had hoped that she couldn't feel it. Her skin, despite the angry wounds, was beautiful and soft to the touch; I had to refrain from touching her anymore than necessary, even though I wanted to feel more of her smooth skin beneath my finger tips. Suddenly, my hand was brought to a halt as she shuddered; had I caused her discomfort?

"Is this causing a lot of pain for you?" I asked.

"Er... not a lot; it's just a little bit of pain." she responded meekly.

"Okay, tell me if the pain get to be too bad so I can grab another pain potion." I instructed as I once again began to smooth the salve onto her wounds.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" she suddenly spoke and I froze my fingers not leaving her skin.

_Shit, what do I tell her? _I thought.

" You honestly take me to be a cold- hearted man, do you?" I asked. _She certainly should after what you have done, _my brain added. I tried my hardest to mask the slight sense of hurt in my voice.

"Well, no, but you aren't exactly nice to me... or to anyone... on a daily basis." she said, turning her head so she could speak to me over her shoulder.

I was truly hurt at her words, but I guess I deserved them because, in truth, she was right. If only she knew why I found it was easier to shut people out than to be friendly with them.

"What do you expect me to do? Do you really need someone to hold your hand and lie to you about how real the world is? Once you leave this training camp, you will understand just how _real_ this world can be. Not everyone is going to be as happy and carefree as Blaise is." I snapped back, I didn't mean for my words to come out so harshly.

"I didn't say you had to be like... like him." I could tell I had upset her.

"Perhaps, if my..._stony_ exterior is too much for you to handle, maybe I should just let you go from the program." I didn't know why I was being so mean.

She turned to face me instantly, still gripping onto her towel, but her face held an expression of fright, "Please, don't remove me from the program. I didn't mean to say what I did; I was just confused is all. I can't leave this program now. I have to show my fa... I just... can't... I need this program." she begged.

_Who is this girl trying to prove something to? I could swear she was about to say her father, _I thought.

"Relax, I'm not going to removed you from the program." I told her as I gestured for her to turn around again.

When she did what I asked, I finished apply the salve to her back and then applied a new bandage. This time, I used a charm to apply it so that she wouldn't be completely wrapped in bandages. I grabbed a shirt from my side table drawer and then dropped it on her lap.

"What..." she began to ask but I cut her off.

"You can use that to wear while you are in here as I am sure you do not wish to sleep without a shirt." I explained.

"Thank you" she responded as she pulled the shirt over her head, slowly letting the towel fall as she did so. She pulled her hair into a loose bun and then turned to face me.

"You're welcome." I responded. "I also need to apply some of this balm to the wound on your leg." I added.

She nodded her consent and I gently grabbed her injured leg by the calf and anchored it under my arm. Using my free hand, I scooped up the salved onto my fingers and then slowly moved my hand to the hem of the shorts she was wearing. The moment my fingertips touched her skin, she sucked in a breath and it was possibly one of the most beautiful sounds I had ever heard. Her skin was like silk and I couldn't get enough of it as I massaged the salve onto her injury. She closed her eyes and I couldn't help but wonder what was going on in her mind.

_I need to be careful, I can't lose my control,_ I thought. When she opened her eyes and they connected with mine, I stopped moving and gently let her leg go. _What was it about this woman that intrigued me so much, and in just a month? I hadn't felt this was since... well a really long time._ I brought a hand up to brush away a strand of hair that had fallen into her face. _Fuck, control, _I thought and I crashed my lips to hers.

For a moment, she was still but then I felt her melt into the kiss. What I was doing was wrong on so many levels but I couldn't help myself. I heard her release a tiny moan into my mouth and I couldn't keep myself from deepening the kiss. Her lips were so soft and I couldn't get enough of them. Slowly I began to push her back onto the bed but she tensed up and broke the kiss.

"Ahhh..." she cried in pain. I had completely forgotten about her injured back. Her cry broke me out of my daze and I sobered up instantly, backing away from her.

I grabbed the sleep potion from the side table and thrust it at her, "Take this." I stated shortly, I was angry with myself for doing what I did.

"Harry..."

"Take the potion and get some sleep, Miss Blayke." I told her, trying to distance myself from her. She took the vial from my hand and drank it. Almost instantly I could see the potion taking a hold of her as she crawled under the covers and settled in for sleep.

"Where will you sleep?" she asked sleepily.

"Not in here." I replied.

I saw a brief look of hurt cross her eyes before the heaviness finally overcame her and she drifted off to sleep. After cleaning up everything from the evening with a wave of my wand, I left the room and went back to my office. I poured myself a glass of scotch and stood in front of the fire, nursing my drink.

_What the hell was I thinking? How could I let myself lose control? _I thought angrily. I couldn't allow myself to do this again, no matter how much I wanted to.

There was one this I was very sure about as I transfigured the chairs by the fire into a small bed, and that was that I was beginning to have feelings for Anna. I would say that they were unwanted, but that would be a lie.


	8. Chapter 8

**I am sooooooooooooo sorry about the delay... BUT... it is finally here, the next chapter! It hasn't been super edited yet, but I wanted to get this out to everyone. There are some great things coming soon! Best wishes!**

**FP**

-ANNA'S POV-

I was stuck in Harry's chambers for an entire week. Every day, I would wake up to find breakfast on the bedside table; after I ate it, Harry would come in and administer my morning doses of potions and then leave. Then, later in the evening he would return with dinner and my evening's potions before proceeding to apply the salve. Being stuck in bed for an entire week drove me nuts. Harry wanted to be sure that I had no internal injuries and that I was completely healed before returning to vigorous training. After only a day of my captivity, I had convinced Harry that I needed books to keep me from going insane; it didn't matter if they were Auror history books, I just needed something to keep me from going stir crazy.

There were no other situations like on the first night. Whenever Harry applied the salve we kept quiet and I forced my self to focus on anything other than the fact that Harry's touch lit a fire inside. Blaise did not return for the rest of my time healing. At first, I was hurt, but then I figured that Harry had him kept busy with chores and duties around the manor; perhaps he was even out on another mission.

On the day that I was to be released from Harry's care, I was awoken by Harry slamming the door open and throwing open the curtains.

"What the fu..." I groaned sleepily as I moved to pull the pillow over my head but I quickly cut myself off once I remembered where I was and who I was addressing.

"Get up, you rejoin training again today. Your uniform is in the bathroom and you have half an hour to get down to breakfast." He said pointedly before walking out of the room.

I continued to lay in bed for a few more minutes before I stood up and stretched as I made my way into the bathroom; Sure enough, there on the counter was my uniform. Turning the sink on, I washed my face before beginning to slowly pull on my uniform. When I was ready, I took a deep breath, giving myself one final glance, before heading out the door and into the hallway. Before snapping the door shut behind me, I checked to make sure that I had my wand; when I felt it safely tucked into the holster, I began making my way down the stairs.

As I walked into the dining hall, I saw Blaise seated in his usual spot and I smiled, happy to see that he was okay. One of the other Aurors seated across from Blaise looked up from his food and, spotting me, muttered a few words to Blaise before nodding in my direction. When Blaise looked at me, my smile grew and I quickened my pace to my usual spot, but before I got there, one of the other Aurors swooped in in front of me and took the seat. I stood there, slightly confused about what had just happened, but what made it worse was that Blaise did absolutely nothing. In fact, he sat there carrying on a conversation with the Auror who had taken the chair.

I snapped out of my confusion and, hurt, I strode over to an empty chair at the end of the other table, Harry's table, and sat down to eat. Forcing the food down my throat I tried my hardest to remember if I had done anything to make Blaise angry with me but that last time I had seen him he had told me he would come back to visit me. What had changed? Sighing I pushed my plate away from me, no longer having an appetite and stood to leave the dining hall before Harry could even make his announcement. I could feel everyone's eyes following as I made my way through the doors and out into the foyer. Crossing the foyer, I made my way into the training room and was shocked by what I saw. There, standing in the center of the room, was my father, Carsen Blayke, and I knew my day was about to get even worse.

"Good morning, Annalisse." he stated formally when the door had shut behind me and I began moving further into the room.

"Father." I responded curtly with a nod of my head.

"Seeing as you are standing here, I must admit I am surprised that I was wrong in saying you wouldn't last a week."

"I appreciate your support, father." I retorted sarcastically.

"I would suggest you watch your tone seeing as I will be here for the next month as your instructor. You wouldn't want to lose your place in this school would you?" he said with a smug look on his face.

Before I could respond, the door to the training room opened and Harry strode in.

"Miss Blayke, I don't appreciate..." he began but stopped short upon seeing my father in the room.

"Well if it isn't Harry Potter, it's good to see you again, son." my father greeted cheerfully and it made me roll my eyes.

"Always a pleasure, Carsen." Harry responded as he reached out to shake my father's hand.

"How are things here?" my father asked. I could not believe the 'pleasant' conversation going on between the men.

"Always progressing, so I can't complain."

"Good, good." a father responded with a nod.

"Oh, Carsen, this is one of the trainees here." Harry began, once again acknowledging my presence in the room. "Miss Blayke this is Carsen... Blayke... oh." Harry finished, making the connection between myself and my father. "I'm sorry Carsen, I didn't even realize..."

"Nonsense, Mr. Potter." my father cut off his apology. "It's not your fault my daughter fails to mention these sorts of details. Not to worry, though, I will straighten her up. I can't promise she will be the best trainee in the program, but I can at least make her worth your effort."

"Father..." I cut in.

"Quiet, Annalisse, you have no place in this conversation." he snapped at me.

I simply glared at him before walking over to a far corner of the room while the two men continued to talk in hushed voices. Why did my father have to be here, and on today of all days? Thankfully Harry did not make the connection sooner and told my father about my injuries.

The doors opened once again and the rest of the Aurors and trainees came walking into the room. When Blaise walked into the room and saw who was speaking with Harry I saw his eyes widen before scanning the room and locking his gaze with mine. A flash of sympathy ran across his face before quickly being replaced with one of indifference. We all lined up in our ranks; the Aurors in their own line facing us trainees.

"Gentlemen, this is Mr. Carsen Blayke and he will be a guest instructor here for the next few weeks. You will treat him with the same respect you give me or you will out of the training program. Is that clear?" Harry announced, walking between our two lines.

"Yes sir." We all chorused.

"Good. Mr. Carsen, the floor is yours." Harry stepped back and allowed my father the walk up and down the lines.

"Thank you, Mr. Potter. Now, from what I have heard, the trainees have yet to face a boggart, so that is what we will be dealing with today." My father began. I knew he would try to use one of my weaknesses against me, I just didn't expect him to use my greatest one against me right away. "Is there anyone who wishes to remove themselves from this lesson, and furthermore from this program?" he added stopping in front of me and fixing me with his gaze, but I continued to gaze ahead of me, not making eye contact with him, and not giving him the satisfaction of my weakness. "Very well then, Aurors, you may stand along the sides of the room and watch."

My father summoned a great chest in the center of the room and instantly, my palms began to sweat. Standing in the middle of the line, I took slow calming breaths, desperate to keep my resolve. I gripped my wand tighter and raised my chin, determined to not let my father know that he had caused such a disturbance.

The chest opened and within moments, the first fear rose out from within. From its depths, a swarm of bees buzzed out and made a path toward the first person in line but before they could reach him, they turned into a bunch of butterflies. My father shouted out praise to the first person and the next person stepped forward. The process continued on like this until it was finally my turn.

When I stepped forward, what was previously a bright pink stuffed snake began to shift into my greatest fear. I closed my eyes to take a deep and controlling breath and when I opened them, there stood the cloaked figure that had injured me, just a week ago. I raised my wand shakily and pointed it at the boggart, but before I could say the spell, it began to speak.

"You are a disappointment to your family." it spoke in a voice that sounded like a twisted version of my father's. "You will never be as good as your brother was; _He_ would have been able to stop me. You are nothing but a worthless..."

Before the boggart could finish his sentence, Harry cut him off, "Enough!" he shouted and the boggart was thrown back into the chest with a wave of his wand.

I stood there, rooted to the spot in which I stood, not moving an inch and frozen in fear.

"Miss Blayke?" I heard Harry's voice call and I snapped out of my daze to find Harry standing in front of me. My eyes, no longer able to hide my fear, shifted over to him and begged him not to say anything, especially in front of my father.

"Is there a problem?" I heard my father's voice from behind me. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to gather my courage, and then reopened them, giving Harry an apologetic look, before walking out of the training room. I had only made it halfway up the staircase leading to the residence floors before I heard my father's voice again.

"ANNALISSE RENEE BLAYKE, YOU WILL STOP RIGHT NOW!" he demanded. I stopped, but I did not turn to face him. "LOOK AT ME!" he commanded.

I turned to face him, tears were beginning to run from my eyes. Harry emerged from the training room and he wore a look of pity. _Great, all I needed was pity._

"**_What is your problem?" _**he asked me in French.

"_**Why are you here?" **_I asked him back in response.

"_**I am here to help Mr. Potter with the academy."**_

"_**Let's not fool ourselves here, we both know you are here to check up on me."**_

"_**Well, aren't we Miss self-centered..." **_he responded.

"_**Can't you just let me do something I want to do for myself just this once?"**_

"_**You seem to be doing a great job about it, running away from training because you are scared. I did not send you here to freeze up over a boggart and then embarrass me in front of the academy by crying."**_

"YOU DIDN'T SEND ME HERE! I CAME HERE ON MY OWN VOLITION!" I snapped back angrily in English.

"You selfish little..." my father began, starting to make his way up the stairs to where I stood.

"MR. BLAYKE!" Harry finally broke in, stopping my father and drawing his attention. "I understand that you are Miss Blayke's father, however, she is one of my Academy students and I cannot condone what is going on."

My jaw dropped at the way Harry spoke to my father. No one had ever dared to cross my father when he was angry.

"Miss Blayke, please return to your room and I will meet with you later. Mr. Blayke, my office, please." Harry instructed; my father glared but nodded.

I nodded my head in acknowledgment and turned to continue my way up the stairs but my father caught my wrist.

"_**He was right." **_he said; this time using Italian.

"_**Who?"**_

"_**The boggart; your brother would have been very successful in life... unlike you. Expect all of your belongings from America; you are no longer a member of my household."**_ he finished before turning back to Harry. "Lead the way Mr. Potter."

Harry walked up the stairs and my father followed him into his office. The rest of the occupants of the Academy flowed up the stairs and parted around me as they made their way up to their rooms.

Eventually, I was left there on the stairs by myself, numb from everything that had just happened. In one day, not only was I shunned by the only person who I considered a friend, but I was also disowned by my own father. I swallowed deeply before sitting down where I stood onto the steps, staring off into the distance like a zombie, unaware of my surroundings.

There was a tap on my shoulder and I looked up into the face of Blaise. He held out a hand and helped me to stand. When I was up, he did not let go of my hand and lead me up the rest of the stairs and down the hall. We stopped at the last door before the flight of stairs that led up to my room and Blaise turned the handle allowing us access. We stepped into what I assumed to be his suite of rooms and as soon as the door was shut, I lost all control and every tear I had been holding back that day began to flow. Blaise pulled me into his chest and I cried into his shoulder, happy that whatever was going on this morning was forgotten and that I was wrapped in his warm arms.


End file.
